Those Who Wait
by Spunky0ne
Summary: In the wake of the war with the quincies, the winter solstice arrives, bringing new love to those who wait...yaoi, Ichigo/Byakuya, Renji/Grimmjow and Katsuro(Renji's samurai father)/Tetsuya.


**Those Who Wait**

**An Ichigo/Byakuya, Grimmjow/Renji, Katsuro/Tetsuya Christmas Oneshot**

**By Spunky0ne**

**(With love to all of my wonderful and much appreciated readers. You truly have helped me to grow as a writer and I look forward to many more years together on FF and AO3. Happy Holidays to all. Spunky loves you!)**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Ichigo sat quietly within the softly lit stone chamber, deep within the Kuchiki family's evacuation compound, his body still aching from the punishment of the recent battles and the lingering effects of having only sought field healing instead of waiting in the royal realm for more thorough treatment. His reason for doing so, the lovely man lying unconscious in the bed beside his chair was, he thought, more than enough reason for him to have left hastily as he did. The Shiba heir's mind replayed for the hundredth time the flares of Byakuya's powerful reiatsu that had leaked into his awareness while he'd been fighting the quincy king and how exactly it had been used against him.

_"You see now, don't you?" Ywach said, glaring into Ichigo's widened eyes and making images of his injured friends appear in the air between them, "You may be able to kill me, even save yourself, but at what cost? You feel that they are struggling, ne? These people you care about...love, Ichigo. Your father protects your two human sisters, but his strength is being slowly worn down. Your human friends have fallen just to allow you to reach me. Your shinigami friends, Kuchiki Rukia and Abarai Renji lie unconscious on the battlefield below...and..."_

_He paused, conjuring a final, painful image._

_"And this man you secretly desire, even with all of his power and that of his wretched cousin cannot protect the dregs of the Kuchiki family."_

_"What are you talking about?" Ichigo snarled, taking an aggresive step forward and forcing the quincy king back a step, "What the hell are you saying? Explain yourself!"_

_"It means exactly what I said," Ywach answered in a deadly calm voice, "Right now, they are fighting a useless battle. Even if they defeat the soldats and the several officers I dispatched to kill them, I will only have each and every surviving member of the noble families publicly executed when I become king! They are all DEAD, Ichigo! And their powers will be sacrificed to ME!"_

Just the memory made Ichigo's heart pound painfully and he tightened the hand that gently held the Kuchiki heir's, just to feel the soft throbs that told him Byakuya was still alive.

"How is he doing, Ichigo-sama?" a youthful male voice asked from the doorway, "Has he shown any signs of waking yet?".

Ichigo looked up and smiled at the raven haired, jade eyed youth.

"He's moved around a little and he groaned a few times," he answered, shaking his head briefly.

"Ah, perhaps soon then. While you wait, would you like some hot green tea, sir?"

"Oh, no thanks," the Shiba heir refused gently, "I'm fine.

"Will you bring tea for the two of us, Torio?" Byakuya requested suddenly, startling the Shiba heir.

"Yes, Byakuya-sama!" the attendant said, smiling widely, "It is good to see you awake, sir!"

"It is a more dubious pleasure to _be _awake, I am afraid," the clan leader answered wryly, "I think Ichigo and I will need a bath as well."

"Yes sir, I will prepare the bathing chamber for you."

"Hey, are you saying I stink?" Ichigo teased, "I think I'm offended."

"We both retired to this room without properly washing ourselves."

"Well, you were out cold and I was..."

Ichigo paused and looked down at where he still held Byakuya's slender, pale hand in his.

"I was in a hurry," he finished.

"Aren't you always in a hurry to get somewhere?" Byakuya asked blithely.

"Not right now," Ichigo replied, his fingers moving slightly and bringing a very light blush to the Kuchiki heir's face and throat, "I'm right where I want to be."

Byakuya cleared his throat softly, his heart fluttering at the look the Shiba heir was giving him.

"I see."

Ichigo's grin widened.

"You okay? You look like you might be a little feverish or something."

"I am fine," the Kuchiki heir answered, his flush darkening, "Is...is Tetsuya all right?"

"Your cousin's going to be all right," Ichigo assured him, "Reio sent someone to help him."

Byakuya shifted and sat up slowly, while the Shiba heir adjusted the pillows more comfortably behind his back.

"He sent...?"

"The samurai," Ichigo said, a small smirk overtaking his lips, "Renji's dad."

He almost chuckled aloud at the instant frown and soft flashing it caused in his handsome friend's grey eyes.

"I see," Byakuya said in a clipped tone.

"He would have sent Kirinji, but he was needed up there and there was still fighting going on, even after Tetsuya used his divine form to end the battle he was in. Reio said that Katsuro is adept in both fighting and the kind of healing Tetsuya would need after using that power for the first time.

"Yes," Byakuya agreed, his dark eyes growing more thoughtful, "there are consequences using that power while he is still a normal shinigami. Use of my own divine ability had its consequences as well, though they were slighter than Tetsuya's as I was prepared carefully while being bestowed with them in the royal realm. Tetsuya's ability was a gift granted at his birth and has to develop naturally as his body matures and changes over time.

"Katsuro said that he would sleep for a long time," Ichigo noted, "It's been seven days and he was still sleeping when I went in there this morning."

"It is a restorative sleep, not dangerous," Byakuya explained, "His reaitsu was dangerously drained, so his body must reduce movement to enable him to 'catch up,' as it were. His spirit centers were also forced to their utmost capacity and have been burned by the use of that ability. The sleep allows for that, but he will be completely powerless for a month or so as they heal."

"But he'll be all right in the end," Ichigo concluded, "Katsuro said he would be okay."

"Yes...thankfully, yes."

"It's good that guy got there so fast and helped heal him," the Shiba heir went on, smirking again at the near scowl he earned in response.

"Yes."

The two paused and looked up as Torio entered the room to deliver the tea. They sipped at the hot liquid carefully, saying little as they consumed it. As they finished the last, Torio returned to the chamber and took the tray away, then returned with two white yukatas draped over his arm. He helped the injured Kuchiki heir to his feet and assisted Ichigo in escorting him to the small bathing chamber down the corridor from the clan leader's quarters. The Shiba heir stopped them in the doorway and gave a little chuckle.

"Not as comfortable as the bathing chamber in your gardens at home, ne?" he sighed.

Byakuya said nothing, but stepped quietly into the chamber and waited as Torio removed his yukata.

"Isn't the water cold?"

"It would be," Byakuya replied, arching a fine eyebrow, "if Torio shared your lack of attention to kido."

"Hey!" the Shiba heir objected, still smiling, "That's not nice."

Byakuya shrugged, a very slight smirk tugging at the corners of his lovely mouth.

"Sometimes the truth is painful," he answered off-handedly, "But you needn't worry about the level of comfort..."

He paused and breathed a soft command. Immediately, a gentle stream of glowing petals blossomed around his slender body and swept up to hover over the little waterfall and bathing pool in the chamber.

"Hey, uh, won't we get a little cut up?" Ichigo said, looking up at the pretty display.

Byakuya smiled.

"These are bladeless," he assured his friend as Torio undressed the Shiba heir.

The two stepped into the pool and placed themselves beneath the waterfall to wet their skin.

"You may go, Torio," Byakuya said, calmly excusing the attendant.

Ichigo watched the young man leave, then looked back at Byakuya with an amused expression.

"Doesn't he usually bathe you?" he asked, indicating the direction Torio had gone.

Byakuya looked back at him silently for a moment.

"The chamber is small," he replied evenly.

"Yeah?" Ichigo said, letting the water run through the ruffled ends of his bright ginger hair, then moving closer to the Kuchiki heir, "You could have had me wait until you were done."

"Do you want me to?" Byakuya asked, his expression perfectly serious as he looked back at the younger man.

"No," Ichigo chuckled, "but since I've inconvenienced you by taking up your attendant's place, let me bathe you instead."

Byakuya blinked in surprise and his blush reappeared.

"You...?" he managed, suddenly losing his breath.

Ichigo's smile warmed him more deeply than the kido heated water.

"Yeah," the Shiba heir said, sliding his arms around Byakuya's slim form and reaching with one hand to locate the soap.

Byakuya stood frozen as Ichigo's warm hands lathered the soap, then began to spread it slowly onto his skin. And to the clan leader's surprise, he copied perfectly the way Byakuya's own attendant bathed him every day...from face to shoulder, then down his back, pausing to offer a thorough massage before sliding his hands deftly over his friend's soft, round bottom and moving to the front. His slick hands followed the curves of Byakuya's pale breast and lingered on his slim abdomen, while the Shiba heir moved his face tantalizingly close to the Kuchiki heir's.

"With your permission, sir," he said, as Torio always did.

"Of course," Byakuya answered in the same, perfectly calm voice he used with his attendant.

Ichigo smiled at the slight stiffening of his chest and back as Byakuya forced his body not to react to the hands that slowly lathered his soft privates. The Kuchiki heir breathed a soft inward sigh of relief as his younger friend moved on to wash the raven lengths of his hair, then coaxed him in under the warm fall of water to rinse the soap away. But, he realized as he emerged from the water again, relaxing under the water freed his nether region to react as it wished. He cleared his throat and moved so that the fallen lather obscured the flushed evidence of his attraction to the Shiba heir.

"You must allow me to return your kindness," he said, making Ichigo freeze and stare back at him with an uncomprehending expression.

It was his turn to become breathless as the Kuchiki clan leader placed wet arms around him and stole the soap from his hands. Ichigo found himself already aroused and in no position to hide the fact as Byakuya's hands rubbed soap onto his shoulders and back, then the graceful fingers massaged the sore muscles, carefully avoiding the lingering bruises and healing cuts.

"You should have allowed them to heal you completely," Byakuya breathed into his ear, making the blushing Shiba heir's nether region twinge painfully, "I wasn't going to die."

"I know," he lied, leaning into the slighter man's pleasant caresses, "I just wanted to be here when you woke up."

"To bathe with me..." Byakuya said, smirking.

"No," Ichigo said, turning to face him and slipping his arms around the Kuchiki heir, to make sure I was the first thing you saw when you woke up."

"Oh?" queried Byakuya, losing his train of thought.

"Yeah, I made myself a promise," Ichigo explained.

"A...promise?" Byakuya repeated uncertainly.

"Uh-huh, a promise that if we both lived through the fights and we came back here, I would do this."

Before Byakuya could move, the ginger haired man's lips crashed into his, making his thoughts scatter instantly and the petals around them fall into the riled water. Their first kiss was longer and deeper and far sweeter than either had imagined it. And when it ended, both were flushed all over and pressed up against each other.

"You...promised yourself that you would accost me in my bathing chamber?" Byakuya managed after a fashion, trying to gather what remained of his pride.

"No," Ichigo said, tightening his arms around the other man, "I promised myself I would kiss you like that and tell you that I'm in love with you. And whatever you said back to me, I would accept it."

The two went silent, gazing at each other as the steam floated around them. Byakuya's wet hand followed the curve of the other man's cheek, then his fingertips traced Ichigo's tensed lips.

"You will accept whatever my response is?" he asked softly, "no matter what it is?"

"Yeah," Ichigo answered, an ache of worry invading his insides.

"Then, here is my answer."

He stepped back so that his back rested against the rock wall, bringing Ichigo with him, then lifted one slender leg and wrapped it lightly around the Shiba heir's waist. His breaths shortened as Ichigo's fingers carefully prepared him, then the younger man's body slowly joined with his. They paused, gazing deeply into each other's eyes as Byakuya's body adjusted.

"Is this the answer you were hoping for?" he whispered into Ichigo's ear as the Shiba heir's hips began to move.

Ichigo answered with a flurry of open-mouthed kisses and a series of gradually strengthening thrusts that swiftly left Byakuya panting and nearly undone. He brought the Kuchiki heir to the very edges of bliss, then loosed a few final words to take them both over and into the heavy throbs of release.

"It's the one I was dreaming of."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Renji groaned as returning pain informed him that he was very much alive, following the final, violent exchanges of the battle with the quincies. He felt softness under his body and felt that he was incredibly warm. He forced his eyes open and was immediately met with eyes of ice blue that glared down at him.

"Well, you finally stopped lazing around and woke up," the Espada commented, removing a cool compress from Renji's tattooed forehead and replacing it with a fresh one, "It's been a few days."

"And you've been waiting here all of that time and that's the best insult you could come up with?" Renji asked, scowling.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't much use to anyone because I wrecked my leg catching this reckless asshole who tried to take on half the quincy army on his own."

"Well, they had it coming," the redhead snapped crossly.

"What? You sacrificing your stupid ass to spread yourself out like a bug on their windshield?" Grimmjow replied hotly.

"It doesn't look like you did much better," Renji said sarcastically, "You were just a slightly bigger bug, but they squashed you too."

"Did you listen to me at all, you damned fool?" Grimmjow snarled, taking the surprised redhead by the front of his yukata and glaring into his widened eyes, "You can't do shit like that. You're gonna get killed."

"And why does a hollow care about what happens to me?" Renji asked sharply, freezing at the deadly look he earned in reply.

Grimmjow shoved him back down onto his back and climbed on top of him as the redhead loosed a flurry of obscenities.

"What the hell are you doing? Get off, you perverted bastard! Don't touch...!"

His words left him as his objecting mouth was filled with a delightfully hot and commanding tongue. Strong hands gripped his biceps and he felt the blazing press of the hollow's very aroused member against his thigh. He tried to resist, but soon found his own mouth rebelling and savoring the blue haired hollow's deep, almost violent kisses. He moved his hips, exciting a growl from the Espada and an almost painful tightening of the clawed hands that clenched his arms. Renji's eyes opened and rounded at finding Grimmjow transformed into his dangerously beautiful resurreccìon. His own tongue sought the sharp edges of the hollow's fangs, exploring them as their hips rocked back and their bodies were slowly joined. There was nothing gentle about the passionate exchange that followed. And both men howled loudly as their rough movements culminated in an explosion of carnal pleasure so intense that it left them unable to move for some time after.

"Any questions?" Grimmjow panted in the redhead's flushed ear.

"No," Renji panted back, "I think I get it."

"Damn," Grimmjow said, smirking, "I was hoping you'd be a little more clueless so it would take longer to convince you."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Ah," a deep, smooth male voice said, sounding very slightly amused, "I wasn't expecting you to come awake so soon. Try not to move too much just yet. You are still recovering."

Tetsuya tried to form some kind of answer, but all that issued from his badly abused body was a rough, pained groan. He heard the man laugh softly and remembered suddenly the way his eyes had twinkled when the man had found him at the spot where Arashi's winged body had crashed down after defeating a horde of attacking soldats and the sneering officer who had led them.

"H-how...?" he managed barely audibly, "how many days h-has it been?"

"Oh, about seven, give or take a few," the man answered, meeting Tetsuya with a charming smile as the young man's bright sapphire eyes finally opened and fixed on his rescuer's dark red-brown eyes and the rich auburn heir that was made into a long braid curled around one broad, muscular shoulder, "But I think that was as much about that power I saw you use as the damage to your very lovely body, my friend."

Heat flared suddenly on Tetsuya's fine skin.

"No one was supposed to see that," Tetsuya whispered, "I would much prefer that if you didn't already tell anyone, it should stay between you and me."

"That shouldn't be a problem," the man replied, giving him another amused look, "I did need to mention it to Urahara Kisuke because he was the one caring for you, once we arrived here, but I didn't see the need to tell anyone else. After all, divine abilities are a gift from my king and they are very rare."

"Y-your king?" Tetsuya repeated softly, "Then, I wasn't mistaken? You are the king's samurai? You are Renji-san's father, whom he found in the royal realm?"

"One and the same," the red haired man answered, "I am Abarai Katsuro, King's Samurai and the presumed dead father of your dear friend."

"Are Renji-san and Rukia-chan all right? Is there word about Byakuya-sama and Ichigo-san?" Tetsuya asked, sitting up too quickly, then reeling as the other man eased him back onto his pillow.

"Take it easy, my friend. You must move slowly until your strength returns, "And your friends and clan leader are injured, but they are going to be fine. The quincy king has fallen and we are safe from his evil now."

Tetsuya nodded briefly.

"I sensed that much," he answered, feeling a flutter in his belly as Katsuro's warm hand brushed against his cheek, checking once more for fever, "I had moments of lucidity, although I could not move. I remember a few things."

"Hmmm?"

Tetsuya's eyes blinked slowly.

"You...carried me from the battlefield, yourself."

"Yes."

"You forced Arashi back into my inner world to save my life?"

"Guilty, I'm afraid," the samurai confessed.

"Thank you," Tetsuya said gratefully, "I would have died if you hadn't come."

"Oh, I don't know about that. You seemed very determined to live. Without that, I couldn't have saved you."

He paused as an attendant entered the small rock chamber.

"Master Samurai, there is a royal messenger waiting for you in the central meeting hall," the young woman informed him.

"Very well. I will be there shortly," Katasuro answered, glancing over his shoulder, then turning his head back to look at Tetsuya, "Do you think you can stay out of trouble for a bit? I will return when I've seen to this."

"I will be fine," Tetsuya said, smiling and shaking his head, "I only need rest. My physical injuries have healed well."

"Yes, well, excuse me, then."

Tetsuya watched as the samurai left the room, then scanned the rock chamber with curious eyes.

_So, we are still in the evacuation compound, _he noted_, He said that it had been about seven days...then...it is the winter solstice._

Listening carefully, he could hear voices and laughter coming from the nearby dining chamber. Music leaked in as well and Tetsuya's sharp ears picked up the soft tinkling of bells.

_Naoki loved the winter solstice. We would steal flowers from the gardens to give each other and when the guards were drunk, we would make love. My powers were under a limiter, but I could do little things...like making a little snow fall even in the darkness of our cell._

A shiver of sadness went through him.

_I suppose I am expected not to return to the manor yet. But I have greeted Naoki every first day of winter since he was buried at Kuchiki Manor. I can't bear the thought of not seeing to that._

Looking around, he found he couldn't sense anyone close by. He raised himself slowly, clenching his teeth against the instant flares of pain that resulted.

_If I was the one in that grave, Naoki would visit me, even if he had to crawl there._

He felt a swirl of nausea and warning dizziness as he slipped his feet over the side of the bed and eased himself to his feet. Swaying unsteadily, he laid a hand on the bed and closed his eyes. A few moments later, the dizziness subsided and the pain retreated enough to encourage him. He took a cautious step and picked up a thick robe from the back of the chair that the samurai had occupied. His hands trembled a he wrapped the robe around his aching body, then closed his eyes and reached out with his senses.

_I cannot make a waterform, but I have enough reiatsu in me to move between ones already set. I can use the one I left in the barn, near the family cemetery to reach the manor. It seems that one is intact._

He focused on the waterform and felt the world shift strangely as he passed into it. Opening his eyes, he caught his breath at finding himself in the chilly remains of the mostly destroyed structure. A small swarm of birds, disrupted by his arrival, rose out of the ruins and winged away, squawking angrily. The ground seemed to rock under the injured shinigami's feet for several long moments, but then his head cleared slightly and he carefully extricated himself from the remains of the barn.

He moved slowly onto the dirt path, placing a hand on sections of fencing that still stood as he made his way to the cemetery, then passed through the shattered gate. Tetsuya breathed a ragged sigh of relief at finding the graveyard untouched beyond the broken gate. He felt a soft surge of energy as he passed the graves of Byakuya's mother and father and honed in on the little section where his lover was buried. His legs shook as he reached the grave and dropped onto his knees.

"N-naoki, happy s-solstice!" he managed, his teeth chattering, though he usually didn't feel the cold.

_My water and ice ability usually protects me, but I am more vulnerable while recovering._

"I am sorry for not bringing a gift, but I found no flowers between the barn and here."

"Why don't you give him these?" Katsuro's voice rumbled in his ear as Tetsuya's hand was captured, turned and filled with something soft and sweet smelling, "I found them as I passed through the gardens."

"The gardens are...?" Tetsuya queried, staring at the handful of bright petals.

"I am sorry. It was destroyed," Katsuro said softly, "But I was able to find these on the ground."

"But...how did you...?"

"Byakuya told me where you might have gone and why, when we discovered you were gone. I brought them for you, but you are welcome to give them to your lover, if you like."

He watched as Tetsuya opened his hand over Naoki's grave and let the petals flutter to the grassy ground.

"I don't visit my husband's grave," Katsuro commented, "He ordered me not to. He said I never let him have a moment's peace in life and he didn't want me to be crying over him when he died. But I think about him every day."

A very small smile found its way onto Tetsuya's icy lips.

"Tama was chosen for me, so he was a little less than enthusiastic at first. I suppose we were always a bit...adversarial. But we did love each other. And we watched over Renji, although we could not endanger him by going to him personally."

"How did he die?" Tetsuya asked, looking down at Naoki's grave.

"Old age," Katsuro explained, "My lifeline was substantially longer than his, so he gradually aged and died. I suppose I have about as many years left as you, if I don't die in battle."

He paused and, noting Tetsuya was shivering, started to remove his heavy cloak.

"Please don't," Tetsuya said quickly, placing his cold hands over the samurai's, "You'll freeze to death. I'm fine, really. I'm dressed warmly. I just...get cold inside when I come here, you see?"

The samurai's eyes widened as he realized a gentle snow had started to fall around them, frosting the lovely petals Tetsuya had scattered on his lover's grave.

"You still need to be warm," Katsuro insisted, opening his cloak and pulling Tetsuya up against his warm body, then curling the long ends around both of them.

"But I will make you cold!" Tetsuya objected.

Katsuro gave him a melting smile.

"You could never make me cold, Tetsuya," he chuckled, touching the younger man's face gently and enjoying the bright flush that resulted.

Tetsuya gazed up at him, lost for words as the snow continued to fall around them. And although the weather around him still felt icy, he felt inexplicably warmer inside.

"It...feels good to be held again," the younger man observed, after a long silence, "It has been a long time."

"Oh, you can't tell me that you have been alone since you were freed," the samurai said, tightening his arm around Tetsuya, "That would be a horrid crime. There must have been someone..."

"No."

Katsuro's smile warmed him to the toes.

"Then, maybe it's time," he said, bending his head slightly and bringing their lips together.

Tetsuya's eyes closed and his slender body tensed as the other man's attractive masculine scent rolled over his senses, leaving him weak in the knees. He felt a throb of reiatsu and his body collapsed completely into the smiling samurai's arms.

"Y-you! You only did that to overcome me! Let me...!"

"Shh," the samurai chided him, lifting him and turning away from Naoki's grave, "I meant that kiss, as much as I did use it to incapacitate you. I gave you time to greet him, as you wanted, now I want you to go back to your bed and recover. He would want that, ne?"

"Yes," Tetsuya said quietly, settling into the samurai's arms more comfortably and looking into his dark, red-brown eyes, "My Naoki would have taken care of me personally."

"So would my Tama," Katsuro agreed, "although he would have spent a great deal of time scolding me for getting hurt."

"You enjoyed baiting him, didn't you?" Tetsuya asked, an unbidden smile taking over his lips.

"Thoroughly," the samurai chuckled, "But enough about that. As you haven't your Naoki to care for you, I will simply have to stand in."

"You don't have to..."

"Oh, I have nothing to do for the solstice...so, perhaps some hot, spiced cider and a very large meal?"

"Are you asking me out?" Tetsuya asked, looking amused.

"Oh, no, not at all," the samurai insisted, "We will eat in your chambers, and then I am putting a sleep enchantment on you so that I can sleep too."

"Have they found a place for you?" Tetsuya asked, "All of the chambers were filled, as I recall."

"Afraid not," Katsuro sighed, "I suppose that chair will be fine."

"I could perhaps, offer you someplace more comfortable," Tetsuya offered.

"Oh?"

"I think my cousin has an extra sofa in his room," Tetsuya said, smirking.

"Ah, such cruelty after I nursed you back to health," the samurai laughed.

"Maybe I was just making you feel right at home."

"Yes," Katsuro said sincerely, "you do employ the same sharp wit as my late husband...but...I think that I am at home, even when you say nothing at all."

He stopped any answer that Tetsuya could have given with a longer, deeper kiss that left the blue-eyed noble nearly senseless in his arms. Turning away, he started back down the trail that led out of the cemetery.

"It is a fact of life that we must leave them behind and move on," the samurai breathed into Tetsuya's ear, "but remember that it is what they would want, Tetsuya...and even when we've moved on, we will never forget these two that, in a way, led us to each other."

**XXXXXXXXXX**


End file.
